SKOWHEGAN — Tensions ran high at Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting, as town officials moved around money to cover cost overages for a new baseball field, while a group of residents continued to question the project’s scope and lack of public information about it.

The 3 1/2-hour meeting, focused largely on the ongoing athletic complex project adjacent to the Skowhegan Community Center that has rankled a group of residents for years, featured passionate public comments from a full room of residents at the beginning.

Public participation extended throughout the meeting as residents continued to chime in, peppering the select board — and the member whose engineering firm is contracted to oversee the project — with questions.

In response to requests from some residents with questions, the board scheduled a public information session about the project for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29. The location has not yet been set.

After lengthy discussion Tuesday, the board approved redesignating about $437,000 in unrelated capital reserve accounts to the athletic complex. The funds break down to $118,765.05 from building improvements at the former Island Avenue fire station and $318,000 leftover from the town’s new public safety building on East Madison Road.

The move is believed to cover finishing the baseball field portion of the complex without any outside sources of money, like $3 million in Congressionally Directed Spending awarded to Skowhegan in 2024 that remains up in the air amid the Trump administration’s shakeup of federal funding and agencies.

Plans for the expansion project, for which planning began in 2006, include two sports fields, tennis and pickleball courts, a concession stand, new Little League field dugouts, a maintenance garage and other infrastructure.

Funding for the project initially allocated included $1.9 million from the sale of Memorial Field to Maine School Administrative District 54 for its new elementary school, $200,000 from New Balance and thousands set aside in capital reserve accounts.

Ranger Construction Corp. was awarded a $2.3 million contract to build the baseball field and related infrastructure in September 2024.

Cost overruns so far have left that portion of the project about $449,000 in the red, said select board member Steven Govoni, speaking in his capacity as president of Wentworth Partners & Associates, which was hired as the athletic complex project’s clerk of works. Several change orders that factor into that total were approved Tuesday.

That led town officials to consider redesignating funds already in town accounts to finish the baseball field as soon as possible, Govoni said.

“We do this all the time,” Govoni said. “This is my fourth year (on the board). We’ve done this once in every single year. We close out an account that’s no longer valid, and we put that money in another account.”

But ahead of the vote, town officials and residents were split on whether that was the right move.

Select board member Whitney Cunliffe, a vocal critic of the town’s management of the project since he was elected in a February special election, questioned whether the redesignation was proper use of the funds taxpayers raised.

“It was for that; it was not for recreation,” Cunliffe said. “Have we considered whether repurposing these funds — especially for a project already over budget — aligns with what the community originally supported through its budget votes? … At a glance, it just seems like we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul here.”

Cunliffe also cited the 2024 town meeting warrant, which included an article giving town officials authority to redesignate no more than 1% of the total budget between town categories for unanticipated expenses and emergencies.

Trisha Austin, finance and human resources director, said she checked with the town’s auditors Tuesday; they told her there was no issue with the redesignation of funds.

The proposal to move the funds came up in a recent meeting as staff considered ways to finish the baseball field portion of the complex, Austin said.

“It’s a way to get the ballfield done,” Austin said. “It’s not a fix-all, and it’s not robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is what we have, and I understand where everybody’s coming from.”

Police Chief David Bucknam said he opposed the redesignation.

“In my personal opinion, I think it’s irresponsible of us to take money that’s set aside for public safety, which is to overlook the 10,000 citizens in this town,” Bucknam said before the vote. “But I will let you know that I do have full confidence in our select board to make the right decision and I will support whatever decision that they make.”

Fire Chief Ronnie Rodriguez said after Bucknam spoke he had no issue with the fund transfer and would work with whatever budget his department is given.

The fire station capital funds were requested by Rodriguez’s predecessor, he said, and were intended for work at the former fire station at 16 Island Ave., which the fire department moved out of in February 2024.

“I work for the town,” Rodriguez said. “The town decides what they do with their money. And I am in support of what the town does. And if (the old fire station) needs something later on, then we have to find a way to take care of it later on. It is not my job to tell you what to do with your money.”

Randy Gray, who retired in 2019 after nearly 40 years as the town’s code enforcement officer, stood up and shot back at Rodriguez.

“We hire you folks, and we pay you a lot of money to make these decisions,” Gray said. “So, it is your money. If not, you shouldn’t have stood up at town meeting, or the previous chief, and requested this money. It absolutely is financially responsible for you to care about this money.”

Select board Chairman Paul York said he was hearing conflicting input from the public — most wanted the baseball field built, but some did not seem to support a solution that would cover construction shortfalls.

“Is this a great scenario? Absolutely not. It’s not,” York said.

Town Clerk and Treasurer Gail Pelotte said the town could face legal repercussions if it can’t find a way to pay Ranger for the baseball field.

“If we don’t move this, we’re going to be looking for money, and who knows how much,” Pelotte said.

Govoni said that if the select board did not make a decision about funding the project soon, the baseball field work would fall behind schedule, potentially jeopardizing its target completion of spring 2026.

“I’ve got to mobilize a contractor in the next week or two,” Govoni said. “I’m either mobilizing them or I’m shutting them down.”

Work on the baseball field and other related infrastructure began in October.

Some residents and selectmen became frustrated with the athletic complex project months earlier, in part because the new facility is supposed to replace the previous homes of Skowhegan’s baseball and tennis teams at Memorial Field on Heselton Street. Those teams were left without home facilities in town because Memorial Field had been sold to MSAD 54 for construction of its new elementary school.

While some work has begun on various aspects of the overall project, funding has been an ongoing concern for town officials over the past year.

In recent months, and at Tuesday’s meeting, some also have expressed concerns over a lack of a master plan for the site.

Cunliffe, at recent meetings, has come head-to-head with York and Town Manager Dawn DiBlasi — who is quitting effective May 9, in part because of what she said is misinformation circulating about the project — about why an overall plan has not been posted online.

“Part of transparency is everybody would like to know what we’re building over there,” Cunliffe said. “They deserve that to see that. … It takes literally one second for you to send it and put it on the town website and everyone can access it the way they want.”

Engineers finalized a draft master plan for the entire site March 12, Govoni said, adding it has since been sent to all select board members and DiBlasi. That plan is to be presented at the upcoming public session.

Copy the Story Link